


Lucky I'm In Love With My Best Friend

by mltrefry



Series: It Was Always You [4]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Covid Fic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Slice of Life, but nothing bad happens, family fic, lockdown - Freeform, slice of life in 2020, so it means it's a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 19:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mltrefry/pseuds/mltrefry
Summary: "What could possibly happen now?”There's a space in time between those words and their wedding day that doesn't get addressed in "It Was Always You." And while a lot did happen to the Crowley-Fells in that nearly two-year span, this is a small part of it. A snippet of time during the lockdown.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: It Was Always You [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765738
Comments: 16
Kudos: 32





	Lucky I'm In Love With My Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I had this little bit sitting incomplete for almost as long as the original story had been finished. And in it was a conversation with a student that was cut from the first fic because it didn't flow right but I was mildly attached to it.   
> Just a little present from me to you because I really wanted to do something fun for these two in this universe.

“So, who can tell me exactly what-”

Ezra was cut off by a loud war cry coming from his nearly six-year-old son. Well, from Adam. His other nearly six-year-old son was following behind him as they ran through the kitchen with foam swords, though not after one another.

There were snickers from the class on Ezra’s laptop screen, and though he blushed, Ezra was only mildly embarrassed. After all, remote learning had its hiccups initially. There were a few times where people should have been muted and weren’t or some rather unfortunate incidents where parents walked by without realizing their child was in the middle of class. He supposed his sons forgetting for just a moment that Papa was using the kitchen to work because it had the best light wasn’t the worst that could happen. (He tried using the office exactly once in the six weeks they’d been doing this but felt ridiculous using Anthony’s throne-like chair. It had worked to introduce King Lear as a unit, but he would never do it regularly.)

“Oi, you scurvy… something or others.” Anthony came charging in, his hair a bit disheveled and loose about his shoulders. He had a tie around his head and was also holding a foam sword, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Ezra simply wanted to die.

The boys, of course, changed course because the fates would not be kind this day and allow Anthony to run past as a tattooed blur merely. They made to tackle Anthony, who managed to catch Adam from the front but was being pulled down by Warlock from behind.

“Boys!” He snapped, and all three would-be pirates immediately stopped.

“Bloody hell, Mr. Fell’s husband is fit.” One of his students said, a murmur of agreement through pretty much the entirety of the female population in his class and a couple of the males.

Anthony, having heard, looked sheepish. “Sorry, angel.” He said. “We’ll, umm,” he gestured over his shoulder, and then he and the boys took off at a run to the stairs, though he at least set the example of walking up the stairs.

Ezra sighed, closed his eyes, shook his head, and turned back to the screen.

“I would ask you forget you saw that, but I’ve a feeling there was probably more than a few screenshots taken.” He said, and a few of the students chuckled.

“His tattoos are sick,” One of the boys commented.

“I’ll be sure to pass along your compliments. Now, in regards to Lear….”

And so he continued, ignoring the chat that had a few of his students sharing some rather interesting comments about his not-quite husband’s appearance. At least, he mostly ignored them. He may have snuck a few screenshots himself. He may have also felt the need to correct a few assumptions.

“Actually, Miss Zwicker, I’ve known Anthony since we were a bit younger than the lot of you are now. I certainly didn’t pick him up anywhere.”

“Wait,” One of the young men asked. “You’ve known each other for thirty years!?”

Ezra frowned. “Exactly how old do you think I am? No, we’ve known each other for about  _ twenty _ years. Now, enough about me. Our time is almost up, and since I know a few of you have a meeting with Mr. Pulsifer in a few minutes, providing he can get his computer to work properly, I’ll let you go in a moment. I just wanted to inform you that you can reach me for further questions today if you need help with the material. I’ll have my email open on the side so I’ll see your message right away, and we can have a private meeting. If I’m connected with someone at the time, I’ll let you know if there’s a queue. Any questions?” He asked, and when no one spoke up, Ezra nodded. “Well, I hope you all have a good rest of your day, and I will see you all again on Thursday.”

He disconnected after a few farewells and sighed.

He disliked this. It was better than having the whole year canceled, of course, and at least it wasn’t impersonal, but he loathed having to sit in front of a computer screen four times a week to teach a class he couldn’t properly interact with.

Ezra had given up trying to keep his normal class appearance by the end of the second week. It was too much effort for a couple of hours a few days a week, so he traded his waistcoat for a sweater vest, his jacket for a cardigan if he felt he needed one, and left the bow ties in the drawer. There were some teases and jokes from his students about working in his pajamas, but he merely chuckled and got them refocused.

A few minutes after the end of class, as Ezra opened the work that had been turned in for grading, Anthony returned into the kitchen, this time without a tie and wearing a henley.

“Sorry,” he said again, kissing Ezra on the temple. “Really, I lost track of the time, wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s alright, dear,” Ezra assured. “Though, I’ll have you know they thought you were in your mid-forties.”

“My what!” Anthony sputtered behind him, and Ezra could barely contain his smile. 

“Well, I mean, I told them we’d meet as teenagers ourselves, and many assumed that was-”

“No, no, you- they wouldn’t have assumed  _ I _ was that old, they just did because they assumed  _ you _ were that old, and we….”

“Yes, yes,” Ezra waved him off. “I set the record straight, I promise.” He got up from the chair, stretching a bit, watching Anthony prepare the kettle. “Are you going to join me, then?”

“Yeah, want to look over the budget reports this morning, make sure we’re still on track,” Anthony said over his shoulder, getting down Ezra’s angel wing mug from the cupboard as well as one of the plain black ones. 

Ezra got to his feet, headed over to his fiance, and ran his hand up and down Anthony’s spine. “You know you, and everyone will be fine.” Ezra reminded him. “You already know the money earned from the sale of the London shop will cover your employees for months. And you said it yourself before. You’re still getting orders from online, and there will be more coming in.”

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “Just… we’re good, yeah? I mean, we looked over everything when the world went all… pear-shaped. Postpone the wedding, not do any trips this year. We’re fine even without all that. We got our bases covered. Just… like, there are some of them who are single parents, and I know they worry, and I want to make sure they don’t. That they’re fine.”

“You,” Ezra said before turning Anthony physically around so he could kiss him properly, “are a good man. And you will stress yourself out over this, you know.”

“I know,” He said, kissing Ezra again quickly before turning back around and finishing the tea. “Tomorrow’s my day in the shop, getting the orders ready to be sent out.”

“Alright, love, your mask should still be in the laundry room where I hung it up to dry,” Ezra replied as he went back to work. Anthony joined him at the table a few minutes later, placing the mug of tea beside Ezra’s laptop, and they worked in silence with the occasional caress of a foot beneath the table.

At one point, the boys came down for lunch or at least a snack, a break from happily keeping one another entertained now that their work for the day was done.

It was a discussion they’d had with the boys early on, how lucky they were. Being only five, it was hard for them to grasp the need to be home with their dads all the time. Why they couldn’t go to the playground or visit their friends.

_ “You’re quite lucky, though,” Anthony had told them with a little smile. “You two get to live with your best friend. See each other all the time, now, you do. ‘Magine how awful it would’ve been if we hadn’t all lived together before.” _

After they were back to work, Ezra noticed an email pop up from one of his students. He frowned when he opened and read it, seeing the request for a meeting as soon as possible.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked without looking up.

“One of my students,” Ezra started and trailed off, quickly creating a meeting and sending the link to the student. He hadn’t had to wait long for the young man to join him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Moore.” 

“Hi, Mr. Fell,” He said shyly,” adjusting his screen a moment if the movement was any indication.

“I’m surprised to see you here.” Ezra began, “You seem to have an excellent grasp on the topic.”

The boy looked away from the camera. “Yeah, I… I didn’t come to talk about classic lit.”

Ezra frowned. “How can I help, then?”

Mr. Moore didn’t speak for a while, and Ezra started to grow more nervous.

“How… how did you… I mean, you got a husband, so you….” He started and stopped, never looking at Ezra.

Ezra looked over the screen of his laptop at Anthony, who was watching him with wide eyes.

“Mr. Moore,” Ezra began. “I’m going to ask you something, and I really hope you won’t be offended. But, where you’re currently staying: are you safe?” He looked back at the screen to see the boy was ducking his head.

“Yeah.” He said. “I don’t… I don’t think I…. It’s just I haven’t….” He huffed, frustrated. “You hear things. I mean, my parents seem cool and all, and I don’t… I don’t have to, now. You know? But I’m seeing Jake, and I’m all sorta bummed that I can’t see him. So, yeah, my parents keep asking why I’m all… so I’m gonna have to… come out… eventually.”

“Did you ever get the chance to discuss this with the school counselor?” Ezra asked kindly, hoping he could find the contact information for her if his student needed it.

Mr. Moore rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but they just said I had to be brave and come out when I’m ready. Which, yeah, duh, but… it’s not that simple, you know?” He said, and Ezra nodded. “So, I wondered, I mean, you’re old, you’re from back before it was-”

“I’m not quite  _ that _ old,” Ezra smirked. “And I do know what you mean when you say you hear things.” He glanced up at Anthony as he spoke, seeing the utter adoration and affection in those serpentine-like eyes. “My partner, when we were about your age, had his first boyfriend. And it didn’t go over well at all with the man who raised him.”

“What about you?” he asked, getting Ezra’s attention back on the screen.

Ezra chuckled, “My dear young man, I am well aware what was said about me in the halls before anyone even knew I  _ had _ a partner. Do you really think my family didn’t know?”

The young smiled. “Guess not.”

“They certainly knew,” Ezra confirmed. “And I am aware I was lucky. Most of the men I know were lucky, as well.”

“So… what about your partner. What about….” As Mr. Moore trailed off, Ezra was distracted by Anthony getting out of his chair, making a gesture for Ezra to scoot. Frowning, Ezra slid his chair away.

Anthony rolled his eyes and pulled one of the vacant ones around, crowding Ezra out of the way of the camera.

He watched from off to the side as Mr. Moore’s eyes grew wide at Anthony’s replacing Ezra.

“Hey kid, I’m AJ. What’s your name?”

“Jamie,” Mr. Moore hesitated.

“Hi, Jamie.” He smiled. “So, you’re thinking about coming out, and you’re worried. I get it. Ez- er, Mr. Fell sorta undersold how bad the bloke who raised me was. Mum was a bit more supportive, but… I’m pan, so it’s … not easier, but there’s an assumption, sorta, for people who don’t understand. To her, I coulda just settled down with a woman because at least I found them attractive, and it would’ve made things easier. But’s not how these things work. Anyway, my point is, think about what your parents say about others, yeah? Like, bloke who raised me was a right bastard, and even before I had a boyfriend, I knew he wasn’t gonna be nice about it. Hoped he’d change a little since it was the boy he was raising being with another boy but didn’t work out that way.”

“You knew he was a homophobe, and you still came out?” Mr. Moore asked in disbelief.

Anthony shrugged. “Wasn’t about to hide who I was. Know it’s not that easy for everyone. I at least knew I wasn’t gonna get kicked out or beat for it. And if I  _ did _ get kicked out, Mr. Fell’s family was already pretty much my family. I’d have had somewhere to go.”

“I don’t think it’s gonna be that bad.” Mr. Moore said. “I think they’re open-minded, but I just….”

Anthony seemed to have the situation in hand, so Ezra went to check on the boys.

He found them in Warlock’s room, rolling a ball back and forth between them, looking morose.

“You two know you’re allowed to go out to the back garden, don’t you?” He asked them, eying the ball.

“Yeah,” Adam said, “But’s kinda boring.”

“We don’t have anything like in the park,” Warlock noted. “Dad said we could probably get a slide or something, but we never did.”

Ezra’s eyes widened a touch, “I suppose there were a lot of things that came up that dad simply forgot about that. And last year we could go to the park almost anytime we wanted, going back and forth between the old flat and here. Plus, the pair of you would have been in daycare more than home.” He sighed, glancing about the room. “Perhaps we can at least set up something a little fun, get you two out of the house.”

~*~

A couple of hours later, the boys were crawling through a maze of tunnels made out of cardboard boxes that had piled up in the basement. They were laughing, their little heads occasionally popping up in the little mole holes Ezra left so they could always find their way. He was falling behind on his marking, but he didn’t mind terribly. Not to mention that Anthony had still hadn’t ended his conversation with Mr. Moore, Ezra having caught a snippet of advice his love was imparting to deal with a possible hostile environment.

He took the time to enjoy a cup of tea on the back porch, watching the boys and taking in the bout of sunshine.

A bit later, he heard the back door open, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Anthony join him with a bottle of fizzy water.

“Jamie’ll be alright,” Anthony assured him without asking. “We talked for a bit. His situation really wouldn’t be worst case. Nothing malicious, I don’t think. Told him if there is a problem, he could call or text me. Me, not you, figured… student having his teacher’s number and all.”

“Look at you, helping the queer youth of today,” Ezra grinned at Anthony fondly.

“Shut up,” Anthony grumbled, a barely restrained smile tugging at his lips. 

They sat for a few minutes in silence, just watching the boys before Ezra said, “We should get them a slide or something.” When Anthony looked at him, he added, “This lockdown has gone one quite a bit longer than the originally said already. We’re lucky we happened to stock up on so many things before we knew this was all going to happen.”

“You mean the day you bought toilet because we were out and you were in the store, and then I bought some because I hadn’t realized you went to the store. Then we had this whole argument about communicating better. Then, like, a week later toilet paper became the rarest of commodity?”

“Yes, dear,” Ezra grinned. “Did you ever say anything to Eric about smuggling a couple of rolls from the shop?”

“Noooo,” Anthony said, “Though Sidney still apologies and asks me to garnish her wages for the few she took. Honestly, it’s hardly like we were a full staff every day. Just going in a couple hours every few days to pack up the online orders. It’s hardly like we’re going to go through a lot.”

“Poor thing,” Ezra said. “She’s got a good heart, though.”

“Which is pretty much the only reason why I kept her on,” Anthony commented.

“Oh hush, you. You have a soft spot for her. I know you do.”

Anthony grumbled incoherently, crossing his arms as best he could while still holding his fizzy water, and Ezra was awash with a bust of love for the man next to him.

After a few seconds of quiet between them again, Warlock and Adam filling the silence with the laughter, Anthony spoke.

“The boys did better today,” He remarked. “Adam still seems to be a bit too restless to sit in front of the screen that long, but Warlock stopped complaining at least. Less of a fight there.”

“I’m pleased to hear it,” Ezra said before taking a sip of tea.

“But that fucking woman,” Anthony said in a low voice, glancing toward the boys to make sure they weren’t listening. “I had to remind her again that Adam was in attendance, considering he was right next to his brother, and that yeah, no, we aren’t going to set him up with a whole different screen just because his name doesn’t show up. If she would just  _ look _ at the faces!”

“I know, dear, I know. But with Melissa not being able to teach at the moment, this is the best the school could do.” Ezra reminded, sighing. “At least she accepts that they are, in fact, brothers?”

“To a very small extent,” Crowley replied. “I heard Pepper on there telling her what was what. She’s gotten herself in trouble more than once for speaking out.”

“Good for her,” Ezra said simply. 

A pause.

“I did promise Warlock a swing set,” Anthony said. “When we moved here last year, I totally promised him one. But maybe something a little more? What with the pair of them. Something that will last a while. I mean, they’re five. They’ll get at least five years out of it, won’t they?”

“I imagine they should,” Ezra agreed. “Could put whatever it is over there, where we had the bounce castle last year.” He gestured to the far corner of the garden.

“Shit, their birthday. A while yet, but what if all this is still going on by then?”

“Then we’ll make the day as special as we possibly can for them,” Ezra replied, turning to meet Anthony’s eye. “It’ll be alright.  _ We’ll  _ be alright.”

~C~

“Ezra, this is not alright.”

Crowley looked at his almost-husband, then to the multiple boxes placed strategically in order in their back garden.

“It won’t be so bad,” Ezra assured, rolling up his shirt sleeves and momentarily distracting Crowley with the strong forearms on display. “Think of the reward: a pair of happy boys with some outdoor entertainment when they’re now stuck inside on a screen for school most days.”

Crowley wasn’t so sure it would give him any sort of satisfaction in a job well done when everything was assembled, but he could at least agree that giving the boys a place to go that wasn’t their rooms would be worth it.

The thing ordered had a treehouse-like structure they needed the climbing wall or rope ladder to get to. There were swings off to one side of it, of course, as well as a slide. It would probably be too big for the garden, but Crowley wasn’t sure he cared about that. 

He did care about how many pieces it seemed to have come in and how what he thought would be a few hours of work was turning it something like a weekend’s worth.

“Adam, Lock, can you bring the tools?” Ezra called over his shoulder, and the flurry of activity meant the boys had grabbed the set of hammers and drills he’d bought in preparation. He then turned to Crowley and smiled. “This will be quite splendid. I’m absolutely sure of it.”

~*~   
  


“I said B goes with D, not C!”

“What? Angel, that makes no sense!”

“It’s right there in the instructions, I assure you.”

“Well, what idiot would put things together out of alphabetical order?”

“They’re parts, Anthony. They’re lettered for distinction’s sake. Would you rather vague illustrations where you have to count the holes on the piece and make sure you have the right one?”

“I’m just saying it’s stupid. Alright, fine, I have B. Now what?”

“Now we attach it to D with the long screws. No, Anthony, the  _ long _ screws.”

~*~   
  


“Next time, we pay someone else to assemble it,” Crowley said as he and Ezra sat bone-tired, slumped in the chairs at their back garden table. A space heater was on to keep them warm, and there was a bottle of wine between them that should have waited another couple hours when the boys were in bed, but it was desperately needed now. Just a glass, just to relax a little while they ate a slice or two of pizza, and the boys explored their new place to burn off some energy.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Ezra said. He leaned forward to get another slice, and Crowley didn’t miss the grimace that crossed his angel’s face.

“Wasn’t so bad, huh?” he teased.

“Nothing a hot shower won’t fix,” Ezra dismissed, taking the slice he was after and taking a bit. A sinful moan of appreciation rumbled in his throat, and Crowley shifted about, wishing momentarily he didn’t hurt so damn much.

He then watched his sons, Warlock swinging as high as his little legs could get him while Adam climbed up the slide and slid back down on repeat, the two talking about everything they would want to put in their little treehouse structure.

“Did I ever tell you,” Ezra began quietly, that I thought more than once that perhaps Eliza had somehow made us find each other again from the other side? Because I can’t help but think how incredibly lucky I have been to have you in my life since her passing. I wouldn’t have gotten through last year, all the changes if it wasn’t for you. Or at least, I wouldn’t have gotten through them as easily as I did. And all this, the lockdown, the whole thing.” 

“You might’ve mentioned it,” Crowley grinned, “but it’s always good to be reminded. ‘Specially now, being with each other so much more than before. All-day every day.”

“And I’m grateful for it,” Ezra said, voice heavy with affection. “Even if you are absolutely horrid with following instructions.”

“Not fair!” Crowley countered, basking in his angel’s laugh, listening to the joy of his boys.


End file.
